Lake Tahoe Summit: Bi-state, bipartisan effort to preserve Tahoe remains a work in progress

Achievements in preserving Lake Tahoe were celebrated Tuesday during the 21st Lake Tahoe Summit at Tallac Historic Site, but it was clear there is a lot more to do and the work will never be over.

Started by former President Bill Clinton in 1996, this annual gathering of government, public agencies and private partners highlights what has been done, what is being done, what what still needs to be done in keeping Lake Tahoe clean and clear.

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt delivered the keynote address that followed speeches from Senators Feinstein (D-Calif.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.); Representatives Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.); Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Nev.); and Joanne Marchetta, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

This was the first year California Governor Jerry Brown missed.

Summit host Senator Diane Feinstein highlighted the $2 billion spent on Lake Tahoe since that first summit: $655.2 million by the federal government, $813 million by California, $131 million by Nevada, $108.5 million by local governments and $353.9 million by the private sector. She said its been a true team effort.

As they spoke about protecting the environment, reducing invasive species in the lake, protecting Tahoe's epic clarity, reducing fire fuels and combating the effects of climate change, the speakers all highlighted how, in order to be successful, there needs to be a bi-state, bipartisan effort.

"It makes me proud to be here with you," Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval told the gathered crowd. "Tahoe is in our blood, our bones, our DNA, its 'Tahome'."

"Lake Tahoe is my favorite place on earth, one of the most special places where people live, work and visit," Sandoval added. "Sometimes people save money for years to visit here."

The speakers all touched on climate change, three straight years of record heat, warming water temperature in Lake Tahoe, and dead and dying trees throughout the Basin, and how its everyone's responsibility to protect the lake.

"The climate is changing but we're doing our part to meet the challenges," said Joanne Marchetta, Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

She said Lake Tahoe sets the standard by working together on "the nation's most extensive landscape restoration projects."

Two newly elected officials joined the summit for the first time, California Senator Kamala Harris and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.

"There have been a lot of achievements, but it is clear there is more to do," said Cortez Masto. "We're at a pivotal point for the health and sustainability of our environment."

"We have an administration that refuses to acknowledge the danger of climate change," said Cortez Masto. "Each one of us needs to use our voices. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to continue fighting."

The freshman senator also said money for technology improvements at Lake Tahoe is coming to create a "smart Lake Tahoe."

The senior senator from Nevada, Dean Heller, also talked of new funding for technology to fight fires.

The AlertTahoe cameras around Lake Tahoe have been increasing monthly, and Heller called them the "most cost effective effort to fight fires."

The cameras cover hundreds of acres of forest but there are still more to be installed.

"I will not be satisfied until there is a camera that covers every inch of this Basin," said Heller.

The $415M Tahoe Restoration Act of 2016 has sent funds to the lake for water clarity projects on Nevada and California roads, thinning forests and to fight invasive species.

"There is a very bright future for this Basin," said Heller.

Both Heller and Sandoval said transportation projects highlight Nevada's contribution to keeping Tahoe blue. The new bike trail from Incline Village to Sand Harbor, Nevada's No. 1 visited state park, will be an epic addition, and other non-polluting projects will continue at the lake that will reduce congestion and get cars off the road while protecting the lake.

"There is nothing more magnificent than the beauty of Lake Tahoe," said Harris who was spending her wedding anniversary at the Summit. "Nature has given us one of the best places to be at no cost to us, we need to keep it blue, we need to keep it clear."

"It is our responsibility to preserve it," Harris added but noted improving an economy while protecting the environment can happen together. "Keeping Tahoe clear brings jobs, improves the economy," she said while also talking of families who can no long afford to live at Lake Tahoe.

She called for "rejecting false choices on this issue of the environment and suggesting that you're either in favor of the economy of you're in favor of the environment. That's nonsense. That's a false choice which we just reject. We can do both."

Representatives Tom McClintock and John Garamendi, each from other sides of the aisle, both spoke Tuesday. They highlighted the bipartisan nature of the summit, "an important part of the success," said McClintock.
"Pause for a moment, take a deep breath and observe where you are," said Garamendi. "You are in a very special place on this planet. It's up to us to protect the incredible beauty."

He also highlighted the effects of climate change on Lake Tahoe.

"We caused it and now its our responsibility," said Garamendi. "If we are to protect this incredible place we must dedicate ourselves all that is necessary to address climate change."

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the keynote speaker, spoke of the "Keep Tahoe Blue" bumper stickers distributed by the League to Save Lake Tahoe. "Everywhere I go in this country I see the bumper stickers," he said. "Lake Tahoe is the great icon of the American landscape."

He told everyone they need to keep up the good work of protecting Lake Tahoe, a "mystical, magic place," but that the task is never completed.

"There is no part of the lake that doesn't need assistance," said Feinstein.

McClintock, a longtime proponent of healthy forests said in the Senate in June, "The bureaucratic tangle caused by our so-called environmental laws has reached the point that even dead trees on public lands that threaten to fall on powerlines and cause major forest fires cannot be removed without permission from federal bureaucrats."
Senator Feinstein thanked the fire chiefs from the Basin who were in attendance, highlighting the Angora Fire and Emerald Fire and the work they all do daily to protect the forests of Lake Tahoe.

After the summit speeches, Garamendi spoke to the media, telling them that next month is the challenge in Washington. The appropriation of funds takes place and he said it will be a bipartisan challenge to get the money to Lake Tahoe and fight climate change.

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